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Saturday, August 16, 2014

Ragnar, Again

Last year, I did the Ultra Ragnar, and it was a difficult and triumphant experience. I was excited for Dan because he was going to do the relay this year with most of our same team from last year. I was staying home, and I was happy about that, too.

But then, yesterday, I got a call from Dan about a calf injury he sustained. He was out. Super frustrating and disappointing for him. Also, the team was in need of an alternate. I was, in fact, the alternate; so I drove down to the race, switched places with Dan, and started running.

During the first leg in the hot sun, I said to myself, "But I said NO to this." And yet. After the 7-miler, I got in the van and reported to Liz that luckily, I'd actually been training on hills more this summer than last, even though "I'm not doing this."

To be honest, the team was a little lo-mo with the struggles they'd already encountered, so I set to being cheery and pleasant. "Enjoy this gift," I told myself. "Feel grateful that you're able to run."

We continued on through the normal highs and lows of the race (my favorite part was running three legs overnight, picking off runners ahead, whom I reeled in by watching the blinking lights on the back of their reflective vests) we completed our morning legs, and then it became clear that one of our pals was getting progressively ill. Liz pulled over in the van in front of me and said, "We're stopping."

"Great," I said. I got in the van, called Dan to come and pick me up. We were all good with this excellent decision. Our pal was ill and needed medical attention. We'd all accomplished plenty. We celebrated the fact that we can run, and I celebrated that I got to go home early and watch tv in bed. Now that Pal is home, healthy and resting, I feel like it's win-win, except for Dan's calf injury. Maybe he can try again someday, if he feels like it.